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Tick illness claims life of teenager Centralia girl became too sick for school.
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By JOE MEYER of the Tribune's staff Published Friday, August 31, 2007 A 15-year-old Centralia girl died this week from a rare but treatable tick-borne disease that health officials say has been on the increase this year.
Powell Emily Powell died Wednesday at University Hospital from ehrlichiosis, two days after being admitted to the hospital.
Powell was a freshman at Centralia High School who completed her first day at her new school last week before she became too ill to attend, said Lisa Gramke, her aunt.
Gramke stressed that Emily's parents, Michael and Angie Powell of Centralia, were getting her treated for flu-like symptoms and did not know she had been bitten by a tick. The family could not find any indication of a tick bite at the hospital, Gramke said.
Emily had been to the doctor three times in the past two weeks when she was sick, Gramke said. "They were treating her. It wasn't like her parents were sitting at home doing nothing," Gramke said. "Nobody really knew what to look for, or they really didn't know what they were looking at."
Gramke said the family was aware of a tick bite Emily had in May, but they had been told by doctors it was too long ago to be the cause of the disease.
Ehrlichiosis is a bacterial infection spread by a variety of ticks, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Symptoms typically appear after an incubation period of five to 10 days and include fever, headache, fatigue and muscle aches. Other symptoms could include nausea, vomiting and an occasional rash. Typically, the disease lasts a week or two.
"Mostly it's a fever and achiness and not feeling well," said Michael Cooperstock, director of the infection control department at University of Missouri Health Care.
The disease is treated with a tetracycline antibiotic.
Cooperstock said that left untreated, ehrlichiosis has a fatally rate of about 5 percent. Even a healthy person can experience severe illness, he said. "It's difficult to diagnosis sometimes, especially if the person doesn't know they have a tick bite," he said.
Twelve ehrlichiosis cases have been reported in Boone County so far this year, up from eight in 2006, Boone County/Columbia Health Department spokeswoman Deidre Wood said. Four cases were reported in 2005.
Missouri has had 151 reported cases of ehrlichiosis this year, about three times the average over the past five years, said Brian Quinn, spokesman for the Department of Health and Senior Services.
Boone County and the state also have seen an increase in Rocky Mountain spotted fever, another tick-borne illness. Officials said they could not offer an explanation for the increase and stressed that prevention is the best medicine.
Ticks secrete potentially disease-carrying fluids 24 to 48 hours after a bite, Wood said. "So if your kid is outside playing, as soon as they come in, check them," she advised.
Medical Examiner Eddie Adelstein said an autopsy was not performed because his office was comfortable with the diagnosis from the hospital and the family did not request one. Adelstein said the only way he has heard of someone contracting ehrlichiosis is from a tick bite.
"Classically, it starts off with vague symptoms," he said.
Gramke said she was not aware of her niece spending a large amount of time outside lately.
Emily liked being with friends and listening to music, the aunt said, adding that she was very mature for her age, often spending time with her 19-year-old sister, Elizabeth, and her friends.
"She was just a really sweet girl," Gramke said.
Plans are in the works for Emily's high school class to establish a memorial fund in her honor, Gramke added.
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